


12 Days of Fairy Tail

by muddyevil



Category: Fairy Tail
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-08 15:11:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8849830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muddyevil/pseuds/muddyevil
Summary: A Fic dedicated to my wonderful Beta Gajeelswoman. Fairy Tail in the run up to Christmas.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gajeelswoman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gajeelswoman/gifts).



Gajeel took another gulp from his beer as Cana walked past him, tripping over nothing and stumbling to the floor. It was late in the guildhall, only the two of them and Mira left working the bar, and when the demon barmaid looked at him he sighed, finishing his drink and going to pick up the card mage. She mumbled her thanks as he hoisted her up, wrapped her arm around his shoulder and started to make his way out of the guild.

"Come on, Drunkard. Time to go home."

Cana giggled to herself as she stumbled against him, and Gajeel sighed. This was not how he expected to be ending the evening. He wrapped his coat around her shoulders, he didn't want to be responsible for her freezing to death, and walked out into the December air. Why this woman thought that a bra and trousers was suitable winter attire he would never know. She screamed as she stepped outside of the guildhall, and Gajeel looked down to see she had lost her shoes at some point in the night. Sighing to himself again, he picked her up and put her on his back in a piggy back before setting off towards Fairy Hills.

"How the fuck do you lose your shoes, Drunkard?"

She laughed again, resting her cheek against the top of his head. She was so much taller than Levy it was throwing his balance off, but he still managed to distribute both of their weight enough that he could keep moving forward.

"Where's baby blue?"

Her voice slurred against his hair, and Gajeel waved goodbye to his thoughts of a quiet walk home. He jumped her further up his body, and told her what she wanted to know. There was no point in arguing with Cana when she was this drunk, unless you wanted her to start crying on you.

"She's out on a last minute job with her two lapdogs. Hoping to be back tomorrow."

Cana made an odd noise which almost sounded like a sob, and threw both of her arms around his neck. Gajeel stopped for a second as she sobbed again, before groaning that he had been forced to deal with this.

"What now?"

Cana sniffed, and Gajeel hoped that she wasn't getting snot all over his hair. If someone had told a younger him that he would be taking a drunk guildmember home, and asking why she had started to cry, he would have punched that person in the face.

"What if she doesn't make it home for Christmas? What will you do?"

Her voice started to crack, and he could feel tears soaking through his hair and down to his scalp. Great, now he would need a shower when he got home before he could stumble into bed.

"She'll be back. It's only a translation job in the next town over. Why are you so upset about that anyway? What are you planning to do over Christmas?"

If Gajeel had been able to ignore his crying before, that question had been the last straw before the floodgates opened. Boy, she was going to regret this in the morning if she had got to the emotional drunk stages of her drinking.

"I'm going to be drinking, alone. Bacchus is still out on the S Class quest and you know about Gildarts. So, I'm going to be sat in my room drowning my sorrows like I do every year."

Gajeel sighed, finally putting Cana down at the entrance to Fairy Hills. From here on in she was on her own. Even with the excuse of trying to get her home safely, Erza did not allow any men into Fairy Hills and Gajeel was not going to spend the entirety of Christmas in the hospital. Cana's eyes were puffy with tears, and she stumbled against the door frame as Gajeel punched Erza's number into the lacrima in order to get her to come and pick up the card mage. The Requip mage sounded like she had just woken up but assured him she would be down in a few minutes, leaving Gajeel to entertain Cana for a little while longer.

"You know, you can always come over to mine. I'm cooking and I'm sure Levy wouldn't complain."

Cana looked up at him with big, purple eyes and a pout to rival Juvia's. Tears had left stains down her cheeks and she stumbled to sit on one of the chairs in the foyer.

"Are you sure? But you're going to be having a nice romantic Christmas and then there will be me and I'll ruin it and…"

Her sentence was cut off by more sobs as she broke down into tears again, and Gajeel had to use the soft voice he had reserved for Juvia and Levy in the few instances she got stupidly drunk.

"Jet and Droy will be with us anyway. If anything you'll be doing me a favour and keeping me sane."

Cana stopped crying, and Gajeel stumbled back as she slammed into the front of his torso, pulling him into a hug. The Dragon Slayer awkwardly wrapped his arms around her back and patted it. He thanked Erza immensely when she appeared to peel the drunk girl off him, before turning around and heading for home. He had another person to plan for, it seemed.


	2. Chapter 2

Evergreen was the first to hit the ground, but it wasn't long before Freed joined her. Both of them hated the physical training sessions Laxus forced them to go through, but no matter how much Evergreen complained Bickslow kept telling them it was making their fighting more effective and for the first time Laxus actually listened to the Sieth mage. The man in question walked his way over to the bench, pulling his shirt over his head as he did and all of his babies floated up from where they had been watching and floated around him. Once he was sat down he removed his helmet, wiping the sweat off the inside with his shirt and lay back on the wood. Laxus made his way over to the water and started to drink, already shirtless as was standard for their training sessions despite the cold weather and the snow that had covered the floor before he had melted it all away.

"Guys, now we're all here I've been thinking."

Evergreen moaned. Bickslow wasn't even out of breath, and knowing him and Laxus they would get right back up to sparring as soon as they had sat down for five minutes while her and Freed sat watching and cheering on Laxus.

"I'm going to spend Christmas with Lisanna this year."

Freed shot upright, hair whipping around his head as he did. Evergreen wasn't as surprised, but she turned her head to watch the two men argue.

"What do you mean!? We always spend Christmas together!"

Bickslow shrugged, completely nonplussed by Freed's sudden anger. Freed always hated when his meticulous plans were changed and Evergreen would have thought that he would have got used to Bickslow derailing them by now, but evidently not.

"Well, you spend Christmas with your family, right? And me, the babies and Lisanna are kinda a family now, right?"

"Family! Family!"

Freed looked between Evergreen and Laxus for backup, but they weren't as horrified by this as he was. Evergreen closed her eyes, taking off her glasses to wipe them on her shirt, before addressing Bickslow.

"Have you spoken to Lisanna about this? I think she is probably going to want to spend Christmas with her, you know, actual family."

Bickslow narrowed his eyes at her as his babies spun around faster. One of the bodies dropped as he transferred their bodies into a water bottle in order to fly it over to himself before he replied.

"Well, then I will spend it with Mira and Elfman too. A part of being in a healthy relationship is accepting their family, right?"

Freed got to his knees, still not believing that no one was backing him up. The Raijinshuu had spent Christmas together for over a decade and now Bickslow was going to drop them like it was nothing!

"I can't believe neither of you are backing me up on this! You're trading us in for the Strausses?"

Laxus shrugged, but Freed was happy to note that Evergreen looked hurt, even if it was only slightly. Bickslow threw a little of his water on Freed, and realised that the Rune Mage was genuinely distressed when he didn't even try to dodge it.

"Look, you're both banging one of them, right? So you come along with us. It'll be fine."

Freed groaned, forcing Bickslow's legs off the bench so he could sit down and not even protesting when the Seith mage lay them on top of his.

"But what about the Master and Laxus? They're not dating a Strauss…"

"You hope."

"Shut up, Bickslow."

* * *

 

"So… that's why I thought it might be nice, if it's ok with you of course, if we all had Christmas here. I would of course help you with cooking and decorating and all of that, not that you need it because of course you are perfect but Freed said it was polite to offer…"

Bickslow shut up when Freed's sword stabbed him in the leg, and he waited for her response. Mira was cooking a casserole for the weekly Triple Date night, and turned around to look Bickslow in the face as he squirmed in his chair.

"Of course, I think that would be a wonderful idea Bicks." The relief that came off Bickslow in waves was strong enough to be felt by people in the next room as Mira continued. "Despite it being unorthodox for you to invite your entire team…"

"Please don't call it his team. It's my team."

Freed was sat next to Bickslow at the dinner table, head buried in a book like usual. Anyone else would say he was antisocial, but he simply argued that he could keep track of the conversation just fine.

"If we're being technical, it's actually Laxus' team."

Evergreen was sat between Freed and Elfman, trying to hide the fact the latter had a hand resting on her leg.

"Whoever's team it is, I would love to have you all. I love entertaining guests so it will make Christmas even better!"

Lisanna walked into the room at the end of her sisters sentence, throwing off her coat as she came in from her shift at the guildhall. She ducked under a garland that was decorating the door ridiculously low – seriously she was the shortest one here and she had to duck. The decorations had been up since the start of November on Mirajane's insistence. She made her way over to sit on Bickslow's lap, kissing him on the cheek as she did.

"What's going to make Christmas even better?"

She stood from Bickslow's lap and hugged all of his babies close to her before walking over to help her sister get the food ready.

"The Raijinshuu and the Master are spending Christmas with us this year, isn't that great? We'll have a full house!"

Lisanna groaned, pretending to melt down to the floor before popping back up again and starting to pour everyone a new round of drinks.

"Do we have to? Christmas is the one day a year I have a valid excuse not to see Bickslow."

The Seith mage stuck his tongue out, allowing one of his souls to take over Freed's book and throwing at Lisanna's head. She ducked seamlessly as the Rune Mage shouted and Bickslow begrudgingly returned his notebook to him.

"Well, fuck you Lisanna. Maybe I was excited for spending time with Elfman."

Lisanna kissed the top of his mask as she placed his beer down and moved around the table to give one to Elfman as well.

"We all know that you don't like spending time with Elfman, babe."

The middle Strauss sibling slammed his head on the table, forcing all of the glasses and cutlery to jump. When they were all together if they weren't picking on Freed you could be certain they were picking on him.

"You do know I am sat right here, right?"

Bickslow reached over to pat him on the head, but Evergreen caught his wrist and threw it back at him. Mira brought the casserole over to the table to serve up while Lisanna went to get the last of the drinks.

"Now now, guys. Play nicely. Now, I thought we can put Master in the guest bedroom, Lisanna and Bickslow can sleep on the sofa and Laxus can have Lisanna's room."

"Aw what!?" Bickslow groaned as he stacked the totems on the table to stop them flying around and bothering everyone. He had learned not to let them do that the last time Mira smashed them all into dust and they had spent the rest of the time until he could get home as cutlery. "How come we have to have the sofa! Make Lisanna and Freed stay on the sofa, they're the youngest! I'll share a bed with you, Mira."

Mira giggled as she took her seat between him and Freed, and Freed put his book down on the cabinet behind him while sighing.

"Stop being such a child, Bickslow. Just sleep on the sofa."

Lisanna placed a jug full of a fruity cocktail onto the table, sharing out glasses between the three girls and Freed.

"Aww, Freed, do you not want to share a bed with me? I'm hurt."

The Rune Mage rolled his eyes, smiling at Mira as she passed him a bowl full of food. He had found it best not to argue with Bickslow and Lisanna, with Bickslow's insanity and Lisanna's intelligence it never went well.

"Despite how much it physically pains me to say this, Bickslow might be right." Bickslow held up a hand for Evergreen to high-five it, but the woman ignored it and continued on with her statement.

"Are you sure you want them on the sofa, Mira? You know how difficult they find it to stay out of each other's pants."

Lisanna snorted to herself while Freed buried his face in his hands. He had discovered Lisanna and Bickslow's inability to keep their hands off each other pretty early on in their relationship.

"You are assuming, Evergreen, that we haven't shagged on the sofa before. Which we totally have."

Bickslow accentuated his point by taking a long sip out of his beer while everyone else around the table showed various degrees of disgust at the information he had just given them. Lisanna sat down between him and Elfman before her brother spoke.

"This is going to be the worst Christmas ever."


	3. Chapter 3

Gray was lying in bed, Juvia moulded to his side in the way only she could. Her body was almost as malleable when she was in her human form as she was in her liquid state and flowed around his body in a way that always drove him mad. His hand slowly stroked up and down her back, leaving small icy trails that made her shiver and press closer to him.

"Gray-sama?"

Gray sighed. He had given up trying to get her to stop her calling him that a long time ago but it still didn't mean he enjoyed it. He raised his head and kissed the top of her hair in response, letting her voice fill the silence between them.

"Juvia was thinking. Last year we went to Lucy-chan's apartment for Christmas but she is never happy about us all going there because things always get broken. Boys are not allowed to go into Fairy Hills, so we cannot have the celebrations at Juvia's apartment, or Wendy's OR Erza's. And Jellal-kun is always on the road so he can't host us their either…"

"Juvia…"

Gray's voice was a low growl and he pretended not to notice Juvia soften as she listened to it reverberate through his chest. She giggled into him, hiding her face in his chest as she did.

"Yes, Gray-sama?"

Gray narrowed his eyes at her, but she flat out refused to look up at him. She always did this when she wanted her own way. And then bam, she would look up at him with those big blue eyes and he would become undone and do whatever she wanted.

"What are you getting at?"

She started to draw circles on his abs, a sure sign that she was going to ask for something he would be dead against. He tensed his muscles, preparing for the argument that was about to entail.

"Juvia was thinking… we can host everyone here!"

He looked around his tiny studio apartment, barely big enough for the two of them let alone seven humans and two exceeds. Well. He had to put his foot down in this relationship at some point, and this was as good a time as any.

"No. Absolutely not. That is not happening."

* * *

 

Gray sighed as he opened his apartment door to Lucy, Wendy, Erza and Juvia, each more excited than the last. They were weighed down with boxes full of decorations, a Santa hat perched precariously on Juvia's head as she pecked him on the cheek. He subconsciously stripped out of his shirt and slipped out of the door while they weren't looking. There was nothing on this planet that would make him stay in the same room as the girls decorating for Christmas. Hopefully Natsu would not only be around, but would be up for a good brawl too. He walked into the guild out of the snow, and picked on the first person he could see. Freed's glass shattered in his hand as the ridiculous cocktail expanded as it froze and the Rune Mage looked up with an annoyed expression on his face, but simply returned to his book, even Bickslow just laughing despite the insult to his leader. Angry his attack hadn't caused more of a reaction he dropped the temperature around their table. Let's see who would crack first.

"Sorry, Freed, I just can't believe you drink that shit."

He accompanied the insult with a smirk. If there was one thing that would rile up Freed, it would be fighting him with words. Bickslow smirked back at him, the Sieth mage obviously waiting to see what would happen. All Gray needed to do was start a fight, and he knew Bickslow would join in pretty soon after.

"What did you say about Freed?"

The voice was lower than what he was expecting, and Gray froze. Turning slowly he saw Mira stood after him, an aura of darkness whipping around her. The Ice Make mage didn't even have time to contemplate just where he went wrong in life before a fist collided with his face.

* * *

 

"All Juvia is saying is that you don't need to start a fight every time you go into the guild hall. Cana said you got taken out within seconds! You really need to thank Wendy for fixing you up, even if you are still not one hundred percent."

Gray was leaning on her heavily but she still carried him without issue. She had carried him back from the guild so many times at this point, even before they started dating, and now they managed to fall into step almost perfectly. He hadn't even been able to enjoy the brawl he started, a fact Natsu made sure to lord over him as he was lying on the floor being healed by Wendy. The little Dragon Slayer scolded him, apparently he should have noticed that Mirajane's tension was running high with her trying to plan for Christmas. Juvia helped him up the stairs to his apartment, leaning him against the wall so she could open the door.

As soon as it creaked open, Gray's eyes were assaulted by billions of lights, all flickering through different colours and reflecting off of fake icicles that hung from the ceiling. Powdered snow littered every available space and a wealth of glass and mirrors glinted with the lights. It looked like he had walked into one of the ice caves Ur had always taken him and Lyon to when they were younger and he stumbled sideways onto the bed, hoping that Juvia would think it was from the injuries and not from the decorations that she had obviously put so much time for.

"Gray-sama?"

He looked up to her. What could he say? He couldn't tell her about the Ice Caves, not that she would mind him talking to her about his past but she was just so fucking pleased with what she had done. And he loved it too, but if he said it reminded him of Ur she would tear it down to try and protect him.

"It's beautiful, Juvia. Thank you. Now, come here, I feel like I could sleep for a week."

Her face lit up brighter than any of the lights in the room and she jumped into the bed next to him, pulling him down gently next to her. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N aaaand I am already behind! (gg me). See you all tomorrow!


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean Cana's coming!?"

They had been lying in bed when he told her, drawing random patterns on her back as she began to wake up. But at this revelation, she shot up, hair in a complete mess and hanging over her face. Gajeel groaned internally that he had apparently ruined his chances of being able to lie in with his woman.

"I thought you'd be fine with it. She was on her own and I couldn't just…"

Levy sighed, swinging her legs off the bed and walking over to the dresser to start to dress. Gajeel pulled the blanket back up to his chin. Just because Levy was getting out of bed didn't mean that he had to.

"I'm not annoyed she's coming over, Gajeel, I'm annoyed you've only just told me. I only have enough alcohol for you and the boys, nowhere near enough for Cana."

The Script Mage didn't mention her other reasons. Even though she bought presents for everyone in the guild, she tended to buy more for those she was actually spending Christmas with. She would feel awkward giving all the boys five different presents when she had only gotten Cana a small bottle of liquor. She wasn't planning on spending Christmas Eve out shopping, but that's what it was looking like. She pulled on a warm jumper, turning around to see Gajeel almost hidden in his nest.

"When's she coming, anyway?"

Two red eyes poked out from under the blanket, and Gajeel looked at her with what she could only describe as embarrassment. She sighed, placing her hands on her hips and staring at him.

"Well… about that…"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door, and it was a testament to the fact that she had been in the guild for so long that she wasn't even surprised. She gave Gajeel a look before running down the stairs, standing on tiptoes in order to unlock the door and open it up.

Cana was stood outside, jeans tucked into big winter boots to protect her from the snow outdoors. She had a coat pulled up around her face and a large bag slung over her shoulder. As soon as the door was open enough she sprinted forward and pulled Levy into a hug. The smaller girl could already smell alcohol on her friend, but she wasn't expecting anything different.

"Hey, Cana. Erm… Gajeel only just told me you were coming over so I need to pop out and get some more things. There's some beer in the fridge in the kitchen and Gajeel is upstairs moping if you wanted to go and talk to him. I don't know where you'll be sleeping so he can work that out for you."

The taller girl laughed. She had been double checking with Gajeel that staying with him was okay, including asking him repeatedly if he had asked Levy yet. Two days before she had decided that just turning up at the door would be funnier and she could see now that Gajeel had lied when he assured her Levy had been told.

"Want me to go and beat him up for you?"

Levy laughed as she pulled on her boots and wrapped her coat around her. She grabbed her bag from the table where she had left it the night before beginning to head out of the door.

Gajeel could hear Cana opening doors after she bounded up the stairs, obviously trying to find where he was. He burrowed further down into his blanket, hoping that she wouldn't see him even after she came in. The door creaked open, and he thought he was safe for a second before he felt her jump on top of him. He grunted as her elbow dug into his ribs and she buried through the blankets until she came face to face with him.

"Gajeel! Your bed is comfy as fuck! I should sleep in here!"

Gajeel growled, pushing the drunk woman off the bed and moving to get ready for the day. Cana got back up and stretched out on the bed as soon Gajeel had vacated it, grabbing the blankets and pulling them over herself.

"Nope. You're staying downstairs with Jet and Droy. Levy's lucky she gets to stay in that bed and she fucks me."

Cana laughed, pulling more and more of the covers over herself. Gajeel debated dragging her out but decided in the end to just go and shower. He would have enough time to bother her over the next couple of days.

It was a few hours later when Levy came back into the house, kicking off her sodden boots and dropping her bag onto the floor. The bottles clinked slightly when she placed it down and she made her way into Gajeel's front room to see Jet and Droy already passed out on the floor. Gajeel and Cana were both laughing to themselves over some joke she had missed and she threw her cold glove at the Dragon Slayer to get his attention.

"Come help me with these bags?"

Gajeel stumbled as he stood up and Levy wondered just how much Cana had already given him to drink. He grabbed the bags for her, taking them through to his kitchen as Levy flopped down on the sofa next to Cana.

"Good day shopping?"

Cana offered her a drink but Levy declined it. She looked down at her two teammates fast asleep on the floor and sighed.

"What did you do to them, Cana?

The other woman just giggled to herself, throwing up her long legs onto Levy's back and leaning on the arm of the sofa heavily. She had a bottle of beer in her hand, like usual, and took a sip of it before she spoke.

"We were drinking and they… couldn't handle it. It's not my fault. Plus, look at it this way. When they wake up it will already be Christmas so they'll be happy!"

Levy sighed, resting her head against the back of the sofa and closing her eyes. She had planned for them to all spend the evening playing games and talking but it looked like her two teammates had already ducked out. At least they had passed out on the air beds she had put up for them the day before and not just on the floor. And now it would be even more difficult to sneak out and wrap Cana's presents.

Gajeel returned from taking all of the drinks into the kitchen and passed Levy a glass of wine before putting another beer on the table for Cana. He sat in his chair, putting his feet up on the coffee table before realising something.

"Hey, where's Lily? I thought he went with you?"

Levy looked up at him, confused. Although Lily often went shopping with her she hadn't seen him at all that day. She couldn't say that and worry Gajeel, though, so she decided to start the damage control early.

"I don't know, but I'm sure he was doing something important. He wouldn't disappear otherwise."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - How behind are you? Shuuuush. I had to write these AND the normal chapters of my two weekly fics. I bit off more than I can chew, but I hope to catch up. Maybe. (totally not gonna be able to.)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy two chapters today.


	5. Chapter 5

It was dark by the time Laxus and Makarov arrived at the Strauss house, Laxus carrying both of their bags to his chagrin. His Grandfather was incredibly good at pretending to be a fragile old man when he wanted to. Mira opened the door bright in red pyjamas which said 'Naughty or Nice' scrawled across the front, and immediately bent down to hug the Guild Master as Laxus leant on the door frame, waiting to be invited to come in and put his bags down. Mira stepped back and directed Laxus to put the bags on the floor next to the stairs before Mira jumped up to hug him as well. He patted her on the back awkwardly, he had learned years ago that when Mira hugged you- you didn't just go stiff and not hug her back.

"Okay, I've got a surprise for two of you. We're just about to start watching a movie, but first, you need to put these on."

She held up two pairs of pyjamas, one much larger than the other and Laxus groaned. The smaller pair was green with a white 'No1 Dad' written across the front of it, and Makarov grabbed it with a huge grin on his face before disappearing upstairs to change into them.

"There is no fucking way I am wearing those."

Mira's face fell and Laxus swore he had never seen anyone go from elated to crying as quickly as Mira could. He sighed, grabbing the clothes from her and starting to change right there in the hallway, not embarrassed at anyone seeing him. The pyjamas were an almost fluorescent yellow with lightning bolts all over the bottoms and large bold text saying 'Danger: High Voltage' on the top. Mira jumped excitedly, clapping her hands as she did before heading into the living room.

They had moved all of their chairs to face the large movie lacrima the Strausses had on their wall. Elfman was sitting on the single chair with Evergreen on his lap so Laxus couldn't see for sure what was written on his white pyjamas, but had a horrific feeling that it said 'Man on the streets, Beast in the sheets'. Evergreen looked unimpressed at the large cartoon fairy on her shirt, but it looked like even she couldn't defy Mirajane. Freed was sat upright on the two seater sofa, his own shirt declaring 'I prefer books to people' and Mira went to press a kiss to the top of his head before disappearing into the kitchen. Bickslow and Lisanna had already set up their sofa to sleep on it, a large blanket covering them and the five totems as Bickslow stretched out with Lisanna lying on top of him on the three seater. Bickslow's mask was nowhere to be found and his hair was ungelled, and they were wearing matching pyjamas declaring 'Parents have more fun'. Laxus moved over to where their feet were, about to move Bickslow's feet out of the way before Lisanna kicked at him.

"Get off our bed. If you're stealing my bed for the night you're not sitting on my makeshift bed too."

Laxus looked down at Lisanna pointedly while Bickslow poked her in the ribs.

"Come on, Lisanna! He's the boss! It's fine, I'll just put my feet on his legs and then… Hey, Boss, where ya going?"

Laxus had moved away from the sofa and gone to claim the other single chair and had just managed to sit down when Makarov reentered the room. He looked around the available seats before moving to sit on the floor. Freed jumped up, offering him a seat on the sofa but the Master simply shook his head, looking pointedly at Laxus over his shoulder. The Dragon Slayer sighed, pushing off the chair and sitting himself down on the floor to lean against Bickslow's sofa. Makarov grinned, jumping up onto the chair while Mirajane came back with bowls of popcorn and drinks, sharing them out between the couples. Laxus grabbed a beer from her, swatting at Bickslow's hand as the Sieth mage started to play with his hair. He had a feeling he was going to come to regret this.

* * *

 

It was two movies later that Mira decided to call it a night. Laxus had spent the entire time alternating between trying to stop Bickslow plaiting his hair and batting away his totems from trying to sit in his lap. As soon as Freed fell asleep both Bickslow and Lisanna changed to trying to throw popcorn into his hair, the takeover mage getting annoyed as she realised that her opponent was enchanting his so they always landed permanently. Makarov had fallen asleep halfway through the first movie and was sat snoring in his chair, with Elfman and Evergreen next to him trying to sneak away upstairs before Mira shot a glare at them. As the credits started rolling Laxus stood up, stretching his arms above his head until his shoulders popped and headed to pick up his grandfather.

"I'll take the old man upstairs to bed. I'll see all you guys tomorrow, good luck Lis."

The takeover mage in question looked confused for a second before she was distracted by her brother standing up to follow Laxus upstairs, Evergreen trailing out after him. Just before she disappeared around a corner she poked her head back into the room.

"Yeah, good luck for tomorrow, Girly. You're going to need it."

Lisanna turned to look at Bickslow, who shrugged back at her while Mira shook Freed awake. The Rune Mage opened his eyes groggily before standing to his feet as Mira guided him upstairs. He was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he went, but he spoke as he left the room.

"Have a good sleep, guys. I wish you the best of luck, Lisanna."

Lisanna opened her mouth to ask, but he was already gone. She turned around to Bickslow and asked the question to him instead.

"Why are they all wishing me luck?"

Bickslow shrugged again, pulling her so she lay on top of him and he could stretch out on the sofa properly. He turned his head to where the babies were spread out on the floor and spoke.

"No idea, babe. Maybe it's a stupid joke. Hey, babies, why don't you all go and sleep with Elfman and Evergreen? I've got some business with Lissy down here."

Lisanna sighed as the totems flew off up the stairs. She thought Bickslow had managed to go the whole day without causing an argument, but obviously not.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A massive thank you to Gajeelswoman for betaing this for me... despite it being her Christmas present. I am the worst of all the friends.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - This fic is dedicated solely to my wonderful Beta Gajeelswoman. She's wonderful and grand and never gets annoyed with me spamming her for ideas.
> 
> Yes, I realise this is a day late. That's because I don't know when the 12 days of Christmas starts.


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